Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62D—CHEMICAL MEANS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES OR FOR COMBATING OR PROTECTING AGAINST HARMFUL CHEMICAL AGENTS; CHEMICAL MATERIALS FOR USE IN BREATHING APPARATUS
  • A62D1/00—Fire-extinguishing compositions; Use of chemical substances in extinguishing fires
  • A62D1/0071—Foams
  • A62D1/0085—Foams containing perfluoroalkyl-terminated surfactant

Definitions

• the invention relates to aqueous fire extinguishing agents containing fluorinated surfactants and having an improved reignition behavior.
• R 4 is a hydrogen atom, C 1-4 alkyl, cyclohexyl or 2-hydroxyalkyl having of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms,
• R 5 is C 1-4 alkyl, cyclohexyl or 2-hydroxyalkyl having of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms and
• R 6 is a water-solubilizing radical.
• R 6 is --Q--R 7 with Q being an alylene group having from 2 to 6, especially 2 to 3 carbon atoms and
• R 7 being a water-solubilizing polar group.
• R 7 represents an anionic or non-ionic moiety.
• Typical anionic groups would include --CO 2 - , --SO 2 - , --SO 3 - , OP(H)O 2 - and especially OSO 3 .sup. ⁇ .
• Typical non-ionic groups would include --N(C 2 H 4 OH) 2 and especially --OH. If R 7 is a non-ionic group, the fluorinated surfactant I has to contain an anion A.sup. ⁇ to neutralize the positive electric charge at the quaternary nitrogen atom.
• Suitable anions include, for example, sulfate, halide, toluene, sulfonate, acetate, nitrate or methosulfate.
• Preferred amine oxides are alkyl-di-methylamine-N-oxides, especially N-oxides, the alkyl groups of which have of from 12 to 18, preferably 10 to 16, carbon atoms.
• German patent specification No. 1,959,798 discloses foam extinguishing agents, which contain a fatty alcohol and an amine oxide in addition to a foam generator. By the combined application of higher fatty alcohol and amine oxide an increase of the foaming number and the water half life is intended.
• the foaming agents according to the invention contain no further foam generator, such as protein hydrolysate or alkylbenzene sulfonate besides the amine oxide and the fluorinated surfactant.
• the foaming agents herein differ, furthermore, from the concentrates of the German patent specification by the absence of a fatty alcohol. It has become manifest surprisingly that the burnback resistance of the generated foam is considerably deteriorated when adding concomitantly an amine oxide and a fatty alcohol to aqueous solutions of the fluorinated surfactants of the present invention.
• Foaming agents which contain a tertiary amine oxide in addition to a fluorinated surfactant are known from German Auslegeschrift No. 1,920,625. However, it can be seen from this reference that the use of the amine oxides results in undesirable properties of the extinguishing agent (slow film-forming velocity and long flare-up time), owing to the long emulsion time.
• Preferred fluorinated surfactants of the formula I are those in which the groups R 4 and R 5 are both methyl or ethyl groups.
• the content of the fluorinated surfactant in the foam concentrate may vary within wide limits and may be in the range of from 0.1 to 10, especially of from 0.2 to 5, preferably of from 0.5 to 2, weight percent.
• the weight ratio between amine oxide and fluorinated surfactant may vary from 0.5:1 to 15:1, a ratio of from 2:1 to 10:1, especially of from 3:1 to 5:1, being preferred.
• the foam concentrate according to the invention may contain other known additives, for example foam stabilizers and antifreezing agents, especially butyl diglycol and ethylene glycol, butyl diglycol being the preferred antifreezing agent.
• foam stabilizers and antifreezing agents especially butyl diglycol and ethylene glycol, butyl diglycol being the preferred antifreezing agent.
• a circular fire basin 1.9 m in diameter, which gives a burning area of 2.83 m 2 , and 20 cm in height, was filled each time with 150 l of jet propellant JP 4.
• the foaming number ratio between volume of the foam and volume of the liquid was in the range of from about 7 to 8.
• R f denotes a mixture of perfluoroalkyl groups CF 3 (C 2 F 4 ) n with n being an integer of from 2 to 7.
• burnback resistance 12 minutes, 15 seconds.
• the example was carried out using a commercially available water film-forming foaming agent having a content of fluorinated surfactant of about 1.7 percent (about 15 to 20 weight percent of butyl diglycol, about 78 weight percent of water and about 1 to 2 weight percent of hydrocarbon surfactant).
• This foaming agent was foamed under the conditions of Example 1.
• burnback resistance 11 minutes, 15 seconds.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Emergency Management (AREA)
• Fire-Extinguishing Compositions (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=6014276

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (14)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1977
  • 1977-07-19 DE DE2732555A patent/DE2732555C2/de not_active Expired
• 1978
  • 1978-07-12 ES ES471659A patent/ES471659A1/es not_active Expired
  • 1978-07-17 US US05/925,368 patent/US4203850A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1978-07-17 GB GB787830050A patent/GB2001243B/en not_active Expired
  • 1978-07-17 IT IT25808/78A patent/IT1097834B/it active
  • 1978-07-18 SE SE787807952A patent/SE7807952L/xx unknown
  • 1978-07-18 JP JP8684578A patent/JPS5422998A/ja active Pending
  • 1978-07-19 FR FR7821366A patent/FR2397847A1/fr active Granted

Patent Citations (4)

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